


Expired Chances

by bagelistrying



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, Catra is Bad at Feelings (She-Ra), Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Let Catra (She-Ra) Say Fuck, POV Catra (She-Ra), Random & Short, Sad with a Happy Ending, Scorpia (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Scorpia (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, Season 4 Spoilers, Whispering Woods, teen for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagelistrying/pseuds/bagelistrying
Summary: “All you’ve ever done is get in my way! What did I expect?!”Scorpia looked up, the shadow lifting from her face. “You’re a bad friend.”
Relationships: Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Kudos: 10





	Expired Chances

**Author's Note:**

> hi there! This fic is based on the events in the middle of season 4, except from Catra's perspective and with a different outcome. Kind of a fix-it, but really just me wanting Catra to pay for being mean to Scorpia. Def not me projecting on a stressed out character who gives up her paperwork to go chase a lesbian-

Catra had just about  _ had it _ . The work was building up more and more with Shadow Weaver gone, and of course, before she left, Entrapta had knocked something over in the next room. Everyone here was incompetent, making her life even harder than it needed to be. 

If it wasn’t for them Bright Moon would have been long captured, and the war would've been over. She wouldn’t have to worry about anyone ever again. And definitely not Adora. There was no room to stress about Adora at the moment. 

In short, Catra was incredibly on edge. And the last straw was in the absence of a certain tall, muscular Force Captain.

_ Has Scorpia finished those forms for new armor yet? _ She ran a hand through her hair. Scorpia had seemed, somehow, even more annoying lately when she was doing anything but sitting behind her stack of files. 

That was where Catra checked. She just needed more time from Hordak, and then everything would be worth it. They would finally win, and she would finally be hailed, recognized for her hard work that seemingly nobody noticed. 

She headed over to Scorpia’s table, slamming her hand on the top of the several thick manila folders. 

“Scorpia, why aren’t-” She stopped. The Force Captain wasn’t there.  _ Fuck. Probably off making tea or something stupid. _

Sure, she could’ve been on the mission she just sent her on the find Entrapta’s records, but she didn’t have  _ time  _ for this. 

She hadn’t slept in what, half a week, only for Scorpia to abandon her work? Catra sank down in the spare chair at the table, head in her hands, tracing the rings under her eyes. She was  _ so close _ . 

Sighing, she gathered the strength to stand up again, kicking the chair aside and heading out to the yard. If Scorpia was out there maybe she could get enough sense into her to get her back to work, and if not, she could make sure the rest of the team was loading the truck like they were meant to. 

The cacophony of sounds from the yard rang in her ears, the screeching of armored cars pulling in and the endless noise of people loading and unloading storage containers and crates. She spotted Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio begrudgingly packing a tank for the next attack. Kyle was doing an awful job, like always. 

Catra saw Lonnie shoot her an exasperated look as she approached them. She folded her arms, watching Kyle struggle to lift even one of the smaller containers. When he finally stumbled his way over to the truck, she inhaled, only to be interrupted by Lonnie.

“What do you want, Catra?”

“Don’t interrupt me.” She snapped. “I’m looking for Scorpia.”

“Why?” Kyle asked, wiping his brow and slumping against the side of the truck.

“Why do  _ you _ care? Just answer me,”

“Fine, whatever. Yeah, she came through here earlier with Emily. She said she was on a mission for you.” Lonnie replied, turning back to the crates. 

“Yeah, fine, but which way did she go?”

“She looked like she was going to east storage room." 

“And Catra.” She turned around. “When is all of this going to be over?” Lonnie’s face, underneath the dark circles, mostly looked bitter, matching her sour tone.

“Yeah, we haven’t slept in so long, when are we going to get to rest?” Kyle groaned, scratching his face and pushing himself off the side of the truck.

“I’ve gone without sleep for far longer-” Catra started.

“We can tell.”

Catra felt her face go red, claws digging into her palms as she clenched her fists at her side. “That’s not what I came here to discuss. You’ll get sleep when I tell you to. For now, get back to work. And Kyle,  _ do it better.” _

With that, she turned on her heel and continued through the loading bay in the direction Lonnie had pointed her, ignoring the disappointed sighs from behind her. They were going to be grateful for her later, once they won over Bright Moon and she wouldn’t have to waste her time doing petty things like chasing after Scorpia.

Having followed information about Scorpia halfway across the Fright Zone, Catra gave up. She found herself pacing the halls over and over, trying to sort out her plans in mind. Finally, a figure arrived around the corner, pincers clawing at each other nervously. 

“Scorpia?  _ There  _ you are. You better have something for me.” She needed the recordings for Hordak. If she didn’t, it was over. She let out a sigh of relief as Scorpia held up a small metal chip, a few stray wires hanging sadly from the ports. 

“Entrapta’s recordings. She… stored them all in Emily.” Catra grinned, snatching the chip from Scorpia’s pincers, holding it into the light. 

It also meant Emily was likely gotten rid of. Finally, that piece of scrap metal could get out of her way. She narrowed her eyes at Scorpia’s nervous look. She had seen a lot of those lately, but usually Scorpia was obnoxiously positive. 

Scorpia bit her lip, fiddling with her pincers behind her back. “Uh, the chip got damaged when I extracted it. Hopefully that won’t… matter.” She shrugged awkwardly, her unsettled laughter ringing through the hall. “It was just so small, and you know, pincers…”

Catra wasn’t listening. She clenched her fist around the chip, the ends of the spare wires digging into her palm. “You broke… the recordings?”

“I didn’t mean to-” Scorpia shrunk away from her, arms up defensively as Catra practically lunged at her.  _ Everything I worked so hard to manage...ruined.  _

“I asked you to do  _ one thing _ . One thing!” She half-laughed, her voice high. “One simple thing and you ruined it!” She cast aside the chip, letting it clank against the metal wall and onto the ground. She stared down at the floor, scrunching up her nose with annoyance. “But of course you ruined it.” She let the venom drip from her voice, fury bubbling under her skin. “You’re Scorpia, and that’s just what you do.” 

She dug her nails into the side of her face, pacing the floor again as she let all her thoughts spill out. “You couldn’t handle Emily, you  _ never _ know when to shut up-” She turned back to Scorpia, who was hanging her head. Finally, she scoffed, “All you’ve ever done is  _ get in my way _ ! What did I expect?!” 

Scorpia didn’t respond to her. She just stood, half turned away from Catra, scratching her arm and staring at the floor. Her tuft of white hair was blocking her face, but Catra could see how hurt it was. She didn’t care.

“What?” Catra asked, letting her arms fall to her sides again. 

Scorpia looked up, the shadow lifting from her face. “You’re a bad friend.”

Catra hadn’t objected as the scorpion walked off. She didn’t have a response, there was too much going on in her head. She didn’t have the energy to sort out what all the emotions were, but she instantly recognized one. Regret. Scorpia hated her, so much. Rightfully so. 

Sure, the maps of the captured towns told Catra she was winning. They congratulated her for her countless triumphs over Bright Moon, but so much told her otherwise. 

She felt sick, aimlessly wandering the yards despite having so much work to do. Her brain was so foggy, she would stumble over her words in the few conversations she squeezed into her schedule. Everyone had tried to tell her what she was doing wrong and she couldn’t handle it.

She was ashamed.

Five minutes ago, she wanted nothing to do with Scorpia. She wanted to be left alone and never see her again. But the moment she was gone- She bit her lip, nearly tripping as she realized she was at the skiff docking bay. And one was missing. 

Her mind was suddenly flooded with visions of Scorpia wandering alone in the Whispering Woods. Turning her head at the trees that moved when you weren’t looking and backing away from the cries of the monsters that lived there. 

But what she was more scared about was… whatever it was that happened to Adora. What if Scorpia ended up like… like  _ that _ too. Maybe Scorpia would be scared of the monsters, but monsters could be killed, with enough weapons and elbow grease. But Adora couldn’t. She couldn’t solve Adora with brute force or tactical planning. 

She hadn’t even noticed that her knees had buckled and that her head was in her hands at the entrance to the loading bay. She could feel the eyes of other recruits digging like fish hooks in her back,  _ hating _ her. She couldn’t turn back now. 

If she stayed, letting Scorpia leave, nothing would get better. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t close. Hordak didn’t have the answers. Nobody did. Everything in the Fright Zone was already gone for her. 

All her past friends loathed her, and wouldn’t ever forgive her. With Scorpia gone, she had nothing left. It wasn’t too late. She slowly got to her feet, breathing heavily. She snatched one of the keys on the table and climbed onto the nearest skiff. 

The ride was surreal. The last time she had chased this roundabout path out of the Fright Zone, it was with Adora. Now she was alone, grip even tighter on the lever and tears falling onto the back of her hand. The cold wind tore at her skin, stinging her already raw eyes. But she had to escape. The Fright Zone wasn’t her home. Not without Scorpia gone. 

Everything seemed to fall apart around her, plunging into the dark waters and vanishing. She was so close to having nothing left, but it was almost… comforting. She had finally made a decision, because- there was hope. And that was enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> Alert!! I do not condone bullying kyle he is a nice boy


End file.
